John Brennan, President Obama’s nominee for CIA director, confirmed Thursday that he had advised against a CIA operation to capture Osama bin Laden in the late 1990s, explaining in his Senate confirmation hearing that he had found the chances for success “minimal.” The operation was ultimately called off.
Brennan, who ran the CIA station in Saudi Arabia at the time, said he was among several top CIA officials who advised that the agency cancel the operation over concerns that “it was not well grounded in intelligence,” “its chances of success were minimal” and “it was likely that other individuals would be killed.” He stressed that he was not part of the chain of command at the time.
“Based on what I had known at the time, I did not think it was a worthwhile operation,” Brennan said. “The chances of success for minimal.”
